Anaheim : City Council Approves Toxic Disclosure Law

Anaheim, the site of Orange County’s worst environmental disaster, joined other cities this week in adopting a model hazardous materials disclosure ordinance that was prompted by last summer’s disastrous fire at a chemical warehouse.

It was in the wake of a fire at the Larry Fricker Co., which burned for several days and forced the evacuation of about 7,500 people, that the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a law requiring companies to disclose hazardous materials and urged cities to follow suit. A similar state law went into effect Jan. 1, Anaheim Fire Marshal Michael D. Doty said.

When firefighters arrived at the fire at the Anaheim pesticide warehouse, their work was hampered because they did not know what chemicals were in the building.

Under Anaheim’s law, companies will have to report to the city the quantity and type of chemicals, as well as contingency plans in case of emergencies, Doty said.

“If we ever have a situation (such as Fricker), then we’ll know more about it than we have in the past,” said Bob Berg, Anaheim emergency services coordinator.

In Anaheim, about 1,500 businesses could be affected by the ordinance--”but that’s just a guess,” Doty said.

The city’s Fire Department hopes to hire a city employee to implement the program, Doty said.

For the companies storing or selling hazardous materials, the ordinance translates to an added fee of $25 to $200, depending on the number of materials involved, Doty said.

Once the program is under way, Anaheim and neighboring cities within its emergency network--Orange, Garden Grove and Stanton--will have access to each other’s hazardous materials lists. The information will be pulled together and retrievable via computer, Doty said. While en route to an emergency, for example, a hazardous materials team will be able to enter their destination into their van’s computer, which will print out what chemicals are at the site, Doty said.